(AP) - A San Diego company has agreed to stop bombarding
computer users with Internet pop-up ads to advertise its
ad-blocking software, avoiding a court battle with the
Federal Trade Commission.
D Squared Solutions LLC, which was created by two college
students, reached a settlement Wednesday with the FTC,
which had filed a civil suit against the company last year.
D Squared agreed not to send pop-up ads using the
Messenger function enabled on many Windows operating
systems; such ads do not require an open Web browser to
display. The company also won't sell ad-blocking software
any longer, and it is barred from sending other ads unless
users can choose not to receive them.
The company's founders, Anish Dhingra and Jeffrey Davis,
do not admit wrongdoing and do not face any penalties.
The FTC's legal case against D Squared, one of the first
to address pop-up ads that have become a common Internet
marketing technique, was seen as an attempt to limit an
often-intrusive form of advertising that exploits
technology built into Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s Windows
software.
The government alleged that using Messenger, D Squared was
able to send pop up ads every ten seconds in the form of
small dialogue boxes that usually appeared in the middle
of the computer screen. This function was initially
designed for network operators to send systemwide messages
to employees.
The FTC said the practice was a hassle to consumers and
misled them into thinking there was nothing they could do
to stop the ads.
Attorneys for Dhingra and Davis claimed the pair were not
trying to extort consumers with their ads and only
intended to send one a day to computer users. Lawyer
Anthony J. Dain has said the ads are "annoyances you have
to deal with in a free society."